2013 Summer Superhero Movie Preview Part 1

It’s now the start of April and next month hails the start of the summer movie season with Iron Man 3. While I didn’t do this last year, I thought it would be in my best interest to let all of my readers know what superhero movies are coming out this summer and when, and which ones I’m looking forward to. So without further ado, let’s start this bad boy off!

Even though the summer movie season kicks off proper with Iron Man 3, there’s a couple movies starting off in April that you may not have heard about. The first is Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, released on home video April 16th to tie in with Iron Man 3. This is an anime produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan and it looks stylish as hell. If any Marvel character would be a good fit for a translation into an anime movie, it would be Iron Man. I’ve never been a big fan of mecha anime, but I’m really digging what this one’s looking like. It technically follows up after the Iron Man anime series, so I don’t know how easily it will follow having never seen the show. My only concerns is that the villain looks a little too anime-influenced, and so does the Punisher. Watch the latest trailer via IGN below.

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Next up is an odd choice for a superhero movie considering it’s produced by an ex-junkie whose friend is best known for making slacker/stoner comedies. I’m talking about Jay Mewes of Jay and Silent Bob fame, who teamed up with animator Steve Stark who created several animated shorts based on Kevin Smith’s various podcasts to create an animated movie loosely based on Kevin Smith’s Bluntman and Chronic comic books, where Jay and Silent Bob become weed-themed superheroes. They also have their cadre of sex-pun villains like CockKnocker, as seen in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, as well as Dickhead who literally has a giant penis for a head. I’m a big fan of Kevin Smith, but I’m not sure how much I’ll actually enjoy this movie, especially if there’s an overabundance of sex and pot humor. It’s also not being officially released into theaters, but it’s being taken on tour just like Red State. The tour starts on 4/20 and goes on for several months. Check out the trailer here and check out SeeSmod.com to see if the movie’s coming to your town.

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This is the real start of the summer movie season, and Marvel is kicking it off in a big bad way. The hype machine is in full force for this movie and it better deliver something closer to the Avengers, and less like the reception for Iron Man 2. It’s got a lot going for it as far as what we know so far based on the teasers and the trailers, especially where fans of the comics are concerned. First, is the appearance of the Hulkbuster armor which may mean that the Hulk will make an appearance in this movie. Which is a good thing since the Hulk was by far the biggest surprise in the Avengers, even though he’s a long way from getting another stand alone movie. Or, it could just be a mislead. Many of the trailers appear to contradict character concepts from known Iron Man stories. Although as much as I’d like to see it, I think it would be a near impossible task to keep such a Hulk-sized secret from the press. Instead the main antagonists are the Mandarin, played by Ben Kingsley, and possibly Aldritch Killian played by Guy Ritchie. It’s an interesting choice, as Kingsley is a very well respected actor, and so far he seems to be making some interesting acting choices for the character with his odd speech pattern. There’s also a much larger presence for Don Cheadle’s War Machine. This is the start of Marvel’s wave 2, and if somehow it’s a failure, it could cause some doubt on the next few releases for Marvel. I’m a fan of Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, but for whatever reason I have my doubts about this release. I’m still psyched for it, but it’s a bit of a tough sell for me right now. Watch the trailer below and decide for yourself.

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This is the next in the ongoing series of amazing DC animated movies, and coming off of The Dark Knight Returns Parts 1 & 2, it has a lot to live up to. Just like the Iron Man animated movie, this one is a lead up to the Man of Steel theatrical release. Aside from Lex Luthor, Braniac is one of Superman’s greatest villains and this looks like a pretty epic confrontation complete with an army of robots and aliens, and Superman is joined by his cousin Kara also known as Supergirl. The other thing I noticed is something I remember from An Evening With Kevin Smith where he describes his experience writing a Superman script which involves Superman and Braniac, and at one point Superman is supposed to fight a polar bear, and in this brief trailer there is a moment with an alien looking polar bear. It’s tough to say from this brief trailer, but based on DC Animation’s track record, I’m looking forward to this one. Watch the trailer below courtesy of Nerdist.

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I’ll be the first to say that I’m a big fan of Lego’s irreverent sense of humor. It’s great to have a company that has the official license to these characters and is also able to poke fun of them the way that Lego tends to do. This movie is actually an expanded version of the story from the Lego Batman 2 game, reusing many of the cutscenes used in the game. I’m actually not sure if something like this has been done before, but it seems like a good idea considering that a large portion of the work has already been done for them. It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen a good superhero themed comedy and I’ll definitely give the Lego version a shot. It’s got a pretty great voice cast, even though it doesn’t have the iconic Batman and the Joker, it does feature Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor. I feel like I’m at the point in this preview where I’m being overly optimistic, but maybe that’s why I’m so excited about this summer and am writing up this entire preview in the first place. Check out the trailer below.

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This is Marvel’s big competitor and DC’s big Hail Mary play. If this is a failure like Superman Returns was then the future for DC films will be bleak. Fortunately they have some heavy hitters behind the camera. DC is sticking with Christopher Nolan as producer, and there’s no denying that the Dark Knight trilogy was not only a great series of movies, but they made some serious box office money. And they have Zack Snyder as director who led DC’s other big success Watchmen. Based on the trailers that have been released so far, they appear to be going with the more realistic take favored by Christopher Nolan in the Batman movies. Not only is he going to be battling Zod, which will hopefully bring about some great action sequences, but it seems like they’re doing a lot to bring out Superman’s humanity, both with his childhood, and based on one poster how he deals with the Earth’s authority and morals. It’s tough to say at this point which will be the bigger movie, they both have the potential to be major blockbusters, but there’s so much more riding on the success of Man of Steel than there is on Iron Man 3. Partly because Marvel already has their entire phase 2 in the works based on a series of successes. This is square one for DC and they need this to hit big for the continued success of their self developed movies. Once again, I’m cautiously optimistic, and so far early reports have been positive so only time will tell now.

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Stay tuned for part 2 of my summer superhero movie preview where I check out what the rest of the season has to offer with a more independent release and another Marvel property from Fox studios. Until next time, this has been Bubbawheat for Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights.

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About Bubbawheat

I'm a comic book movie enthusiast who has watched and reviewed over 400 superhero and comic book movies in the past seven years, my goal is to continue to find and watch and review every superhero movie ever made.

I find myself strangely pessimistic, you know? Superhero movies are usually the one type of film that’s guaranteed to get me to the theatre, assuming I have the cash, but so far… 2013 isn’t doing it for me. I have some of the same concerns as you for Iron Man 3. I’d say “cautiously optimistic” on that one is about right; I want it to be good, and I loved the first film, but the second had some definite flaws that I could see ripping wide open here.

As for Man of Steel… deep skepticism here. The promo material hasn’t looked good to me. Superman has always been best as a beacon, not a dark character, and there’s a definite sense of darkness here; there’s also a profound sense of pretentiousness in the trailers. I’m not a big fan of Snyder either. And then there’s the plot, what little I know of it. I’m not sure Zod is a smart move. Superman Returns rehashed Superman: The Movie in a lot of ways; if they’re looking to avoid a second flop in a row, is it really a good idea to have Man of Steel rehash Superman II? I know that wasn’t the only flaw in Returns, but it was a big contributing factor. I don’t know. I want a great Superman movie. But at the moment, I’m expecting to dislike this.

The animated stuff might be all right. Have to admit I’ve pretty much skipped all the direct-to-video stuff.

And as far as Jay and Silent Bob go… I think I have to echo Fogs’ Oscar attitude here (not that this was meant for the Oscars). Show up, or don’t bother; a “tour” of theatres? Come on. Either do a release, or just admit you’re going straight to video. Jay would have some words for someone who puts a movie on “tour”, and they wouldn’t be clean words.

I’m hoping to have the cash to see both of the theatrical releases in theaters, I’m way behind on my new years goal of seeing 10 releases in theaters this year. Of the two, I’m more optimistic about Man of Steel even though it has a greater chance for failure based on history.

As for Jay and Silent Bob, I may not like it too much as a consumer, but it’s hard to deny that it’s a very successful business model. I doubt it would be successful as a wide theatrical release, but most of these theater showings will be sold out, and then it will go to video where everyone can see it. I loved going to the Red State screening and want to catch this one more for the Q&A than the actual movie.

“Man of Steel”! Though I’m less excited about it as time passes.. and I think it’s the sentiment of alot of people. For some reason, they don’t have a handle of how to keep anticipation up. I agree with Brian; I think it will underperform.

I think I’m the only person in the world that really doesn’t love “Iron Man”…